William o



(No Model.) W. 0. McGEE.-

' MAdHINE FOR STRETGHING BARBED WIRE.

-No. 437,402. I Patent'ed Sept. 30. 1890.

:8 mill- .7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM 0. MCGEE, OF RICHMOND, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF TO GEO. W.MOGAUGH, or SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR STRETCHING BARBED WIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 437,402, datedSeptember 30, 1890.

Application filed July 22,1889. Serial No. 318,309. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM O. MCGEE,Of Richmond, in the county of Rayand State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Machines for Stretching Barbed and Smooth Wire; and Ido herebydeclarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itpertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in machines for stretching barbedand smooth wire; and it consists in the combination and arrangement ofparts which will be more fully described hereinafter, and particularlyset forthin the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine for stretching bothbarbed and smooth wires, which when the washer is applied to one end ofthe reel will allow the wire to be freely reeled oif, but when appliedupon the shaft to the other end of the reel locks the reel to the shaftand makes it revolve therewith for the purpose of stretching the wire.

Figure l is a plan view of a machine which embodies my invention,showing the washer applied to one end of the reel. Fig. 2 is a similarview showing the washer applied to the other end of the reel. Fig. 3 isa rear View of the machine. Fig. 4 is a detached view of the crankedshaft and its catch.

A represents the axle, B the supportingwheels, and O the tongue.

Mounted upon the axle and the tongue is the frame D, which is secured tothe axle nearer to one end than the other. The tongue is also placednearer one of the wheels than the other, so as to come just under thecenter of the frame D. The frame and tongue are thus moved nearer to oneof the wheels B and away from the other, so as to allow the crank G uponthe shaft H to be freely turned without interfering with the wheels.

Mounted upon the top of the frame D are the standards I, which aresuitably braced in position and which have their upper ends notched orpronged or otherwise suitably constructed, so as to form suitablejournals or bearings for the shaft H. Through the notched portion at thetop of one of these standards is passed a horizontal pin J which holdsthe shaft in position at that end which is not provided with a crank;but the other standard is not provided with a pin, so as to allow theshaft to be freely removed and replaced at will.

The shaft H is provided with the catch 0 near its cranked end, and thatportionof the shaft beyond the catch passes freely through the reel Q,of ordinary construction, and upon which either the smooth or barbedwire is wrapped. The catch 0 is made sufficiently deep to receive awasher P or to catch over one of the end pieces U upon the reel, as maybe desired. If the washer P is first placed upon the shaft and moved upinto the catch, it fills the catch, so that the catch cannot en gagewith the end of the reel, and then the reelcan be turned freely ineither direction upon the shaft. If, however, the washer is removed fromthe catch and the reel is placed upon the shaft first and the washerupon the outer end of the shaft, where it projects through the reel, thecatch at once engages with one of the end pieces of the reel by catchingover opposite sides thereof, and thus causes the reel to be revolved bythe shaft for the purpose of tightening the wire. While the reel isengaged with the catch the washer simply serves to force the reel overtoward the catch and hold it in connection therewith, so as to preventany'slipping. When the reel is allowed to revolve freely upon the shaft,the wire will reel off as the machine is being drawn along; but when thereel is fastened to the shaft by means of the catch a person can placeany desired amount of tension upon the wire by simply turning the shaftin the desired direction.

By means of a machine constructed as here shown and described the'wireto be used in the making of the fence can first be rapidly reeled offalongthe line upon which the fence is being built, and then it can bestretched with any desired amount of tension.

When desired, the wire can be wound back upon the same spool from whichit was taken.

It is only necessary to lock the spool to the the machine is movedbackward. In this manner the wire can be quickly replaced upon the spoolwhen so desired. It is not necessary to make new spools; but the spoolsupon whichthe wire comes are to be placed in the machine and operated asalready described.

The object of the washer P is to provide a means for filling up thecatch 0, as before described, and the great advantage derived from thisconstruction is that while the spool is held against any lateral playupon the shaft, whlch is very undesirable, the spool cannot possibly becaught or in any manner interfered with in its free revolution by thecatch, which enables the wire to be rapidly run out, andthen by removingthe washer and placng it at the other end of the spool the spool isnormally and permanently locked in that po- 81 01011 to the shaft forthe purpose of tightenmg the wire. The spool has a lateral movement uponthe shaft just equal to the thickness of the washer, so that when thewasher is placed upon the shaft at either end of the spool it is heldagainst any lateral movement thereon. If no means were provided forfilling up a catch of the form here shown, the

spool would be continually engagingthe shaft while the wire was beingrun out.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- In a wheeledwire-stretcher, the combination of the vehicle, the standards, a crankedshaft journaled therein, a catch secured to one end of the shaft insideof the standards, having a groove across its face, the reel placed uponthe shaft and of alength less than the distance between the twostandards, and a washer adapted to be placed either in the said grooveof the catch or upon the shaft at the opposite end of the spool, thesaid washer being of a thickness substantially equal to the dilferencebetween the length of the spool and the space between the standards,whereby the said spool is either normally held in contact with the catchor out of contact therewith, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM O. MCGEE. 'Witnesses:

HENRY D. S. KELLER, FLETCHER J. GRAHAM.

